A man sits alone in a large room. The only furnishings are his desk and chair, the only light emanating from the screen of his computer as it flashes numbers and images at him in rapid succession. He squints, concentrating intensely, perhaps waiting for something in particular to appear.

stone...where am i... WHEELCHAIR&#33; Is it here? Dont see it...backpack?...with me...who are these people... Is that a fish... Oh... Theres the chair... Lets play helpless here... Who knows why im here... If its safe to show my powers...lets stay anonymous too...

She quickly grabs the niqab out of her bag and puts it on starts dragging herself over to her wheelchair, sideways on the ground nearby.

It's worth pointing out that she's thinking in Kurdish or Arabic, so good luck mind-reading

One moment, Kuruth'Ondor is demonstrating how to time your swing at a mounted rider to green recruits. The next moment, there is white. He's face down on stone, cold and hard. Immediately, two of the warrior's hands shoot out and he pops himself onto his feet. His swords... he has them both: one still sheathed, the other on one in his grip. What sorcery is this?

He looks around, ready to strike out at the source. He's in a large, empty room. There are three queer-looking figures lying prone on the ground and a scantily clad woman of a species (Taggabi, perhaps? No, she lacks their horns) that he doesn't recognize rising and holding her face angrily. "What the hell?" she shouts. It is not his tongue, but somehow, he understands it. Indeed, powerful magic is at work here. Cautiously, he he raises his sword, but he senses that she is probably not an enemy. More likely, she's another victim of... whatever this is.

Another figure starts moving... she looks startled, wary. He notices that she's missing part of a leg. She rifles through her bag for something and then quickly pulls out some sort of face covering. Why would she hide her face? Perhaps is was HER who did this... Kuruth'Ondor tenses up. Yet, she appears to be a cripple, and seems to be in as bad a situation at the others. He relaxes the slightest bit, gives her a breif nod and acquaints himself further with his surroundings. Seeing nothing that could be considered a lead, he decides to take the initiative.

"I am Kuruth'Ondor," he bellows into the emptiness. "Show yourself, whoever you be&#33;" There is no reply. "Show yourself, magician, or I shall force you to&#33;" He unsheathes both of his swords and stands in the middle of the dais, challenging whoever brought him and these four other unfortunates to this strange, empty place.

Last edited by The Monsterworks on Sat Jul 30, 2016 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

JunJun jumps a little at the loud voice. She turns to gaze at the... the... wait, what is THIS?&#33;

The... man's (?) appearance could not have looked more out of place. His skin was some shade of blue and/or green, like he emerged from a tropical sea, and dear Heaven, that mouth... he looked like some dimensionally astray warrior. Not that JunJun was a stranger to battle herself, but... he just looked so BIZARRE.

Feeling it would be rude to continue staring, JunJun hastily turns to gaze at the other stirring person. She appears to have a... a wheelchair? And her leg - &#33;

A... wait, is she... ?&#33; Aww man, I've been pulled into a freak show&#33; Where... where are my sisters?&#33;

The green-haired girl looks around in a panic. CereCere, PallaPalla, and VesVes could not be seen, or sensed, anywhere. So she truly was taken from them...

No... &#33;

Fear takes her for a second... and then it is quashed. As real, pure anger surfaces.

"WHERE HAVE I BEEN TAKEN?&#33;?" roars JunJun at the top of her voice. Her whole body trembles with rage. She, like the turquoise-skinned man some ways away from her, wants answers. Big time. "ANSWER ME&#33;&#33;&#33;"

As those who've awakened observe their surroundings in their confusion, they find that the room they're in is almost perfectly square. There are no windows, nor walls; only the support beams in the corners keep the ceiling from collapsing on them. The outside world is perfectly visible. The sun is shining, and beyond the stone room in all directions are a number of white stone towers, containing similar wall-less rooms. Various debris, almost all of it otherworldly-looking, is scattered across the area. It seems this place was once a large city, the buildings broken down by the ages. Though the height isn't certain, it's clear that the room the newly arrived are in is well above the ground.

how do they both speak english?...what on earth is that man?...on earth?... probably not of earth...but if that is possible...where am I?...why are they so angry?...best to stay on their good sides, I suppose...depends on how powerful they are...Mr. Muscles over there doesn't look like much of a thinker though...doesnt mean he's not powerful or a mutant...but able to deal with a telekinetic...???...let's really keep up the helpless act, huh? as she approaches the wheelchair, she makes an attempt to get herself into it - certainly not easy, but possible without use of her powers - and purposefully puts up one hell of a struggle before ultimately failing, the wheelchair falling on its side once again. she sighs, and pulls herself into an upright position

Ixtli eyes her surroundings with suspicion through her bulbous dark eyes, and sees the other beings in here with her - she tenses a little in readiness for action should they prove hostile. The stone floor being rather drier than she would like, and is a little unpleasant to the touch, not like the nice dank caverns she was raised in. However, although her understanding of humanoid emotions was still fairly hazy, the general gist seemed to be that they were as confused as she was. The sunlight was a bit bright too, but she would bear it - the sooner she completed her tasks, the sooner she would never have to see the thing again.

She broadcasts telepathically into the minds of those who share the room with her - she decided that if there was any chance of converting anyone on the surface it was probably best to play things close to her chest as if she had some concept of what was going on, even if she was just as baffled as they seemed to be."
"Greetings Top-Dwellers, I am Darkbringer Ixtli, a priestess of the Old Gods of the Gloom from the Tlaloca people, sent here to spread knowledge of their terrifying power to the unbelievers of the surface. However, it seems they currently ask me to swim through muddy waters to test my faith, and I must admit to not knowing your names or how I arrived here?"

JunJun gets no answer. She turns to stare at the amputee, who's trying to access her mobility device. And ultimately she fails. JunJun raises an eyebrow at this pitiful sight.

Huh. You're no help. I guess I do feel a little sorry for you, though...

The woman says something... something that JunJun doesn't quite understand. Maybe it was because the words were barely audible... but JunJun couldn't anything properly at all.

Oh come on... a foreigner? I guess we're all foreign in this place, though... WHEREVER it is... &#33;&#33;&#33;

Something is strange about her, though, and it's making JunJun very uneasy. Unfortunately she doesn't know if the person can speak any language she knows... and that's limited to English and Japanese. So her help is rather limited. She does know that the cripple does want to get on the wheelchair... but what concern is it of JunJun's?

Well if I do avoid her, then I'm gonna look like a coward, refusing to go near a handicapped person. But I don't wanna be nice... rrrrrgh... urrrrgh... oh, damn it&#33; Sometimes I just despise myself&#33;

JunJun sighs deeply, and slowly walks over. Still unable to determine if the woman would understand her words, JunJun points at the wheelchair, and then at her, blinking once. She hopes the woman understands the gesture.

the telepathic communique from Ixtli surprises Saalima a bit, though it's not terribly surprising, having heard of telepathic mutants I suppose if he's this willing to show off his powers, he's either limited to that as a form of communication, or is allowed to show off his abilities by his government, be it registration or lack thereof...can she...can she read my mind?...how to tell...

her most shocking memory, one that still makes a dull thump of pain when she thinks of it (though she doesn't really feel too much of anything any more, if she can help it), is of her encounter with the soldiers in the hot, sandy desert. she thinks of it, the shocking moment of seeing them actually go through with the execution of her mother - knowing that if the fish is peering around in her head, it would be very hard for them to not react to that. she watches them for a reaction.

the woman with the physics defying hair wanders over, apparently not able to make the connection between Saalima and her wheelchair without a little help - or perhaps she's attempting to be polite. Saalima appreciates the help, though she is aware that she could just be doing this to look good. it's worth not using her language for a bit longer I suppose...people reveal all sorts of things if they think you can't understand them

Kuruth'Ondor turns around to see the others stirring. The green haired woman helps the cripple. So be it. If they look after each other, then he can see to their protection - should they prove worth protecting. He is inside, yet he can see the outside: white obelisks crumbling in the midday sun - the oddly peaceful remnants of some fallen civilization? There is certainly strong magic at work, he reflects.

Then, as if to confirm it, a voice reverberates through his head and the huge warrior snaps himself around. It came from that salamander creature. It must've&#33; His immediate reaction is usually to kill things that try to speak into his head, for such things are usually bad things: squishy and evil and full of deceit. Gods&#33; he thinks. Pah&#33; There are no gods but Rikithru and Kumi, and anything to the contrary is the velvety, honey-covered blasphemy of Evre Arei, Grappellians, and other mewling parasites.

"You&#33; Fish Creature&#33; Have you brought us here?&#33;" he demands.

Last edited by The Monsterworks on Sun Jul 31, 2016 2:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

Kuruth'Ondor regards the strange... what did it call itself... amphitheatre? steadily. It is clearly a being of the water, like the Xientec, and its name is even reminiscent of theirs, but therein, the similarities end. Whatever its motives, it replies with the same borderline disdain that he has come to expect from most magic users, as opposed to the calm malevolence of a true threat. He locks eyes with its unsettling black orbs for a few moments more, utterly unintimidated even as he perceives it gathering its magic power, before relenting. "I am Kuruth'Ondor, first sword to Kogor'Thul, King of all Trogodoluk east of the Thrithikond." He nods cautiously. "It seems my quarrel is not with you, spellcaster."

However, before he can gauge its reaction, the massive warrior's attention is drawn away when the fifth member of the group rises to his feet. He looks like an Udroq, if they were half as smart and trice as ugly. The fidgety little creature fiddles with some instruments that are well beyond Kuruth'Ondor's understanding, and opens his mouth to speak total nonsense. Something about a place named Earth, and subjects. Perhaps he is a king of some sort. Perhaps he has been deposed and these other three are to be among his guard and retainers in exile. The warrior reevaluates him for a moment. No, he decides, you do not possess the bearing of a king. A charlatan, mostlike. A pretender to the throne. A minor noble at best, claiming some borderline worthless place.

However, before he can respond, the...amphitheatre's voice invades his mind once again. "We should probably not encourage this poor creature, it has clearly lost its mind." Despite himself, Kuruth'Ondor manages something approaching a grin. He turns to face the newcomer, his guard half-raised. "I serve no man but my king," he growls.

Last edited by The Monsterworks on Sun Jul 31, 2016 6:23 am, edited 1 time in total.